Romar Edson, known to colleagues as R.J., joined the Spectra Defense Technologies Alpharetta, Georgi team as a lead systems engineer this April, but he is no newcomer to defense. Raised by an Air Force father, he set his sights on service early, and though his path took a different shape, two decades in defense engineering have made the mission his own. Today he has built a reputation as a jack of all trades, equally at home in systems, hardware, integration and test.
R.J.’s path into defense started at home. Growing up with a father at the Air Force Technical Applications Center, he set out to follow him into the service, going through ROTC in high school before college changed his plans. His first job out of school, a junior engineer role at Confluent RF Systems, brought everything full circle.
“The owner stressed the importance of national defense and protecting the warfighter,” R.J. recalls. When the company was acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2005, he had found his calling, and he has been in the defense and aerospace sector ever since.
A jack of all trades
Though his title is lead systems engineer, R.J. is quick to point out it only captures a fraction of what he does. On any given week he is contributing as a hardware engineer, supporting basis of estimates for proposals, handling integration, running design verification testing and drawing up cables. Backed by an associate’s degree in electronics engineering, a bachelor’s in electronics engineering technology from the University of Central Florida and a master’s in systems engineering from Florida Institute of Technology, he has learned to wear every hat the job hands him.
“Titles are just titles,” he says. “In this industry there is no single swim lane throughout your career; there are many.”
When the design team tackles a hard problem, R.J. leans on a simple framework he calls the three-two-one rule: identify three actions you can take, two things you need and one next step. In his first year with Spectra, he says what excites him most is helping grow the company’s capabilities and business.
From the lab to the theater
Ask R.J. about his proudest work and he does not hesitate: the F-35’s Panoramic Cockpit Display Electronics Unit, which he helped carry through its design phases.
“It’s now in theater,” he says, and that, for him, is the whole point. “The most rewarding part of working in defense is making something new or better and seeing that design used in the field.”
Looking ahead, he is energized by the march toward modular designs and by advances in threat assessment and situational awareness.
The team mentality
What makes Spectra unique, in R.J.’s view, is its people.
“Even though everyone is busy, people always make time to help when someone needs support,” he says. “The team mentality here is strong.”
The best advice he says he’s ever received is the kind worth passing on: start investing in your future while you are still young.
“The return on investment is well worth the sacrifice,” he says.
For an engineer who followed his father into the field and watched his own designs reach the warfighter, it is advice that has already paid off.